Beasty's objectives for 2010

Beasty

RobFowl wrote: »

It'll reduce power in the affected leg.
I presume you've tried pilates or yoga to work on you core.
If not it's really well worth a try and pilates especially is good for breathing as well.

I've suffered to varying degrees for the last 20 years or so, and have picked up a whole range of exercises from my various physios over the years, including some pilates-based.

My last major back problem episode was the day after the 2008 CL Final when I could hardly walk after the return flight from Moscow - it was worth it though:p

The sciatica has improved considerably since 2008, although I did not have a power meter then to show how much impact it had, so it will be interesting to see how much power I can still push out

Beasty

Nothing much to report - just back from holiday today, and it was 9 days since I had been on the bike - the longest time I have spent off the bike for over 18 months.

Managed to get out this afternoon to try and blow away the cobwebs, doing just over 36km, making the YTD total 5,330km at 29kph. I am now 97km ahead of target.

The exercises I have been doing appear to have led to some improvement with the back - the sciatica is still there, but not as bad as it has been in recent days.

Assuming no adverse reaction I hope to do at least 3 commutes next week, and am also targeting a vets 20km TT on Tuesday - I'm not expecting anything spectacular given my lack of time on the bike in recent weeks, and the state of my back. I am marshalling on Wednesday, so won't be doing the Swords race this week.

Beasty

20km vets TT on the Mullagh circuit at Batterstown thie evening. The course was reasonably flat, although there was a strong easterly wind which became a head-wind for the 3rd quarter

I would guess there were over 30 riders tonight, and I was 11th off. I knew that my lack of any particularly intense cycling for a couple of weeks, and the effects of my bad back/sciatica would probably mean I would be a bit slower than on my previous TTs.

I think there are definitely tactics to be employed in trying to get the right slot - I really must target some of those septuagenarians, and try and get in the middle of them, making it a bit easier form me to reel one or two of them in, and ideally giving me a bit of a buffer to attacks from behind. Anyway, it didn't work out tonight - I caught no-one, but was overtaken by 2 riders myself.

The first half was generally uphill and with the wind behind or from the side. I managed to keep up a decent pace and power for the first 5 or 6 km. However I did lose time at each corner/junction, and really must work on my cornering. I also need to work on gear selection - there were a number of shortish drags where I opted to keep in a higher gear when I really should have dropped a gear or two - perhaps I need to start thinking about a proper TT bike with shifters on the aero bars.

I managed to pick both pace and power in the last quarter, although with hindsight I think I could have pushed a bit harder from further out.

Time was 34m 40s, at an average speed of just over 35kph. This is around 2kph slower than my previous 10m TT. Average power was 271w, compared to 286w in the 10m. Interestingly cadence was down from 91 to 86, which probably supports the point that I was in too high a gear on occasions. I did push the CP curve up a bit at the full race time:

Beasty

After a couple of quiet weeks due to holidays, this week was an opportunity to get further ahead of my 10,000 km target for the year. I managed 369km (which is a PB), including the 20km vets TT, 3 commutes, a Swords spin yesterday, a couple of sessions on local roads, and an hour at Sundrive this morning trying out the new track bike.

YTD total is now 5,699km at an average speed of 29.1kph, putting me 275km ahead of target.

I also managed to set a PB for my power output in the Swords spin - my maximum now stands at 948w, and I managed to push the CP curve up for the first 12s or so:



Lumen has highlighted previously that I may benefit from doing some interval work to push up the curve up, particularly in the 1-3 minute area. Interestingly virtually all of the curve between 5 and 90 minutes has been set in races/TTs, and I suspect this will be where I manage to push up the shorter periods also - it seems easier to me to set these PBs in a race situation.

The results from the TT are up on the IVCA website - they've given me a handicap now based on my previous 10mTT, and this placed me 11th out of 25 starters (14th on a scratch basis). They've also put me (provisionally) into Group C for racing, and I was first in this Group in the TT (there were only 3 others from this Group taking part - however a win is a win!):D

I'm marshalling again in the Swords League on Wednesday, which means I should be able to to my first "proper" vets race on Tuesday - a 40km DMS at Batterstown - if all goes well, there's an 80km vets CP at Warrenstown on Sunday that I may also give a go. With another 2 or 3 commutes thrown in, I should be able to get further ahead of my mileage target for the year.

Lumen

Beasty wrote: »

I may benefit from doing some interval work to push up the curve up, particularly in the 1-3 minute area. Interestingly virtually all of the curve between 5 and 90 minutes has been set in races/TTs, and I suspect this will be where I manage to push up the shorter periods also - it seems easier to me to set these PBs in a race situation.

Probably not with the shorter duration stuff. For maximal power testing you should start each interval completely fresh but almost need to climb off the bike at the end. This is very unlikely to happen in a race.

If you're hitting your biggest numbers in races (TTs aside) you're not training hard enough. :pac:

Beasty

Lumen wrote: »

If you're hitting your biggest numbers in races (TTs aside) you're not training hard enough. :pac:

The shorter end has (until Saturday) typically been in races - I am hopeful one day I will be in contention for a race and will push all the harder to get there, but as you suggest it must be much better trying to push up the short end when fresh. For some reason, however, I do seem to do better when in groups (I hit the peak climbing out of the Naul on Saturday, and still felt I was not at my limit)

I am encouraged with pushing the longer end up through the TTs though - it suggests my strategy is probably not too far adrift, and so far I have not blown up in one. However I do think I need to start extending my "final push" as I feel as if I am putting in a really hard effort for the last 2km or so, but could probably start pushing it (not quite as much) from a bit further out.

Beasty

After a couple of TTs, tonight was my first "proper" race with the vets - a 40 km DMS at Batterstown. This was very different from my races with Swords, which, other than the club championships, have been CPs, requiring a fairly constant effort on hilly courses. The Batterstown course was quite flat, on good roads, with hardly a pothole in sight.

I was placed in Group C - there are 6 groups in all, with Group A the slowest, and Group F scratch. Groups C and D raced together in the second of 3 races.

We got off to a reasonably brisk start, although only a few of us were volunteering for much work at the front, one who did put a lot of effort in was MC2000.

Tactically it was a very different race to those I am used to, with lots more variation of pace, and reluctance to take up the lead. I did a few longish stints at the front, but did not feel it was taking too much out of me. There were a few breaks, most of which we were able to close own without too much effort.

About half-way round the second (and last) lap someone made a break, but I did not even see it happen. He stayed away for the rest of the race and won it comfortably. I was handily positioned on the final straight, but should probably have either pushed hard earlier, from a km or so out, or left it later for my final sprint. As it was about 5 riders came from behind me in the final 100m or so, and I think I was about 7th in the end.

Overall I was pleased with my performance, although I do need to think a bit more about tactics now I have done one of these races

In terms of the stats:
Distance 40km
Average speed 35kph
Power - average 228w, normalised 268w, pedalling 260w, max 803w
HR - average 158, max 180
Cadence - average 84, pedalling 91

As I was heading back to the car I passed the final race of Groups A and B, and heard the roar of the Lion of Fingal as he was just about the cross the line in first place, having broken away from the Group earlier in the lap - I am sure some of the other Swords guys on here would like to join me in congratulating the Lion on his stunning victory

Raam

Beasty

Was thinking more this one myself:



Not sure of the "King of the Beasts" bit though!

RobFowl

The Lion in action

Fortes Fortuna Iuvat

Beasty

Race report here

This was my 3rd race on the Bog of the Ring course, and hence I now have some decent historic data to compare last night's performance with. The interesting thing is that many of the stats are very similar to the last time I did this course, which in turn was a significant improvement on my first race there.

The first time I was dropped, and in the second race we were caught by Group 3 on the penultimate lap, and Group 4 and scratch on the final lap. Last night we managed to keep away from the faster groups, even though we never managed to catch the limit group.

Time - 1hr 5min 50s
Average Speed - 37kph
Heart rate - average 164, max 178
Cadence - average 78, pedalling 96
Power - average 247w, pedalling 280w, normalised 283w, max 770w
Work 979kj

Lap times were virtually identical to the previous race, just a few seconds difference on a couple of the laps

Most of the power stats are only down by about 1-2%, which was a pleasant surprise given I had done a vets race the night before. Normalised power was only 2w down on the previous race

Beasty

The good news - the new jersey had its first race this morning, the vets 80km (it actually turned out to be less than 70km) CP at Warrenstown. The bad news - it did not get too much opportunity to be admired, as it spent a large amount of time at the back of the field!

It was 3 laps of a 23km course - a little hillier than anticipated, and that caught me a bit by surprise.

I was in Group C again, and the first couple of groups set off ahead of us (there were 6 groups in all). Included in Group C were Planet X and mc2000. There were about 20 or so in total in our group.

We set-off at a brisk pace, with most of us taking our turns. I do think this was a bit less organised than we are in the Swords League - I suspect this may be down to a wider range of ability, with some riders probably knowing their best chance to stick around for the full 2 hours or so is by sticking towards the back.

We then hit a short sharp hill, which took more out of me than I expected. It probably went on for just under 1km in total, mainly at a gradient of less than 5%, but then spiked just before the top at just under 10%.

The rest of this lap and start of the next were pretty uneventful, although I was not taking so many turns as I was feeling it in my legs, and normalised power was approaching 300w - a level I knew I could not sustain for 2 hours.

We caught the slower groups as we hit the hill second time round. I was at the back of our group at the time, and managed to get myself detached by about 70-80m by the time we got over it. I spent the next couple of km getting back on, and managed to reattach myself to the enlarged group. I spent the most of the rest of that lap recovering, but was able to take a couple of turns as we entered the final lap. I managed to keep attached up the hill this time round, but was at the back most of the time - it's more difficult there as you tend to work harder closing down the gaps that arise, particularly after cornering. We probably dropped a few along the way. A couple from our group managed to get away.

With perhaps 5 or 6km to go we were caught by the faster groups. I stayed on until around 2km or so to go, when the combination of my legs, a very large group and the prospect of a bunch sprint "encouraged" me to drop off the back (as a number already had). I caught up with Planet X on the final straight, and we had a little sprint towards the line (which he won!). It turns out that the two riders who got away ended up getting first and second places - the first one also won our race on Tuesday, and the 2nd was one of the Swords guys

Stats:
Distance - 68.5km
Speed - 35.1kph
Total climbing 600m
Power - 225w (average), 253w (pedalling), 264w (normalised), 862w (max)
HR - 159 (average), 177 (max)
Cadence - 84 (average), 91 (pedalling)

Splits:

Lap 1 - 35.6kph, 283w (normalised)
Lap 2 - 35.4kph, 257w
Lap 3 - 34.4kph, 251w

CP Curve



I managed to push up the curve between 1.5 and 2 hours, which I guess is not surprising given this was my first race of this length.

Beasty

3 races this week – probably a bit too much, as I was feeling it in today’s vets race (a couple of hard commutes on Thursday and Friday probably didn’t help much either!)

Total distance for the week 290km at 31.6kph and 232w average
YTD is now 5,989 at 29.2kph – 345km ahead of schedule with only 4,011km to go!

Next week I’ll be marshalling on Wednesday, so I will probably do the vets 25m TT on Tuesday. It’s the same course as my only other 25m in the Swords League, so it will be interesting to compare performances (although I suspect the effort I have put in over the last couple of weeks may count against me). I also need to set a couple of times with the vets before they will give me a handicap. I’ll probably then commute on Wednesday, before doing the Tour de Kilkenny on Saturday. I’ll try and get down to Sundrive on Sunday to try a few different set-ups on the new track bike.

Nearly 16,000kj work on the bike over the past couple of weeks, so hopefully I will manage to drop those 3kg by the end of the year

Lumen

Beasty wrote: »

Nearly 16,000kj work on the bike over the past couple of weeks, so hopefully I will manage to drop those 3kg

Just do that again without eating.

Beasty

So having cloesly followed Lumen's winter TT plan, tonight was an opportunity to put all the technology into use. There was a vets 25m TT on the Batterstown course. My only other 25m TT had been on the same course a couple of months back in the Swords League, when I clocked 1h 9m 19s. I was fully kitted out with pointy hat, skinsuit, black (Assos:rolleyes:) overshoes, clip-on aerobars Garmin and Saris Joule to monitor the power output.

About 30 turned out on a very nice evening. There was a bit of a westerly wind - this would be a headwind on the way out, which is generally downhill, and more of a tailwind on the way back, which would help, particularly in the 3rd 10k, which has more incline

Tonight I was 11th off. Plan was to try and keep power at around 260-270w and try and push harder towards the end. I got off to a steady start, and was surprised to get my first catch after only 5km or so, and then I caught another. After just over 10km, someone overtook me. He stayed about 30-40m ahead of me, but did not pull any further away. We were on the flat and I was feeling strong, so I took him back, just after we had both passed another rider. I stayed ahead of him for the next 5km or so. I suspect he had overdone it when catching me, and had to then ease off a little. I kept him in my sights for a few more km, before he eventually rode off into the distance (by which time we had overtaken a couple more riders).

I was regularly checking the power output, which was pretty much in the range I had planned. The legs were feeling it, particularly on the (admitedly short) climbs, but I was feeling good. I did manage to push it towards the end, and was hitting 53km as I crossed the line in a time of 1h 4m 52s, 4 and a half minutes faster than my previous attempt. I was delighted with the time (even if it was slower than Lumen's effort last week;)). It's over a minute faster than my age standard time, which I thought I would struggle to get to. The problem, however, is that the vets only give you a handicap after 2 races, and it's the faster of the 2 that becomes your handicap - I suspect I will struggle to match that time, in which case I will not be beating handicap!

Stats:
Power - average 266w, pedalling 266w, normalised 277w, max 638w
Normalised Power splits:
0-10km - 287w
10-20km - 275w
20-30km - 271w
30-40km - 281w
Speed - average 37.1kph, max 53kph
Cadence - average 87, max 108
HR - average 163, max 174

I pushed up the CP curve again most of the way from 31m to 1h 4m:



There were at least a couple of sub 1hr times. Nice to meet victorcarrera, who clocked 1h 2m or so

So what made the difference of over 4 minutes from last time - conditions were certainly better. I also had the skinsuit this time. Power was slightly up, and I think I made more sensible use of the gears, changing more regularly rather than grinding up and spinning down the slopes.

Lumen

What skinsuit and overshoes are you using?

I need all that stuff if I'm going to continue beating you. :pac:

Beasty

Lumen wrote: »

What skinsuit and overshoes are you using?

I need all that stuff if I'm going to continue beating you. :pac:

Assos and Assos - what else could I possibly wear?

One bleedin' second - that's all it was - one bleedin' second, and I didn't even take up the offer of a push start - must have lost at least 2 seconds clipping in!

I also think those old guys are a bit slow pressing the button on the stopwatch at the end:rolleyes:

Lumen

Beasty wrote: »

One bleedin' second - that's all it was - one bleedin' second, and I didn't even take up the offer of a push start - must have lost at least 2 seconds clipping in!

I had no push start either, and my official time was 1:04:49. So that's three seconds.

Beasty

Vets 25m TT on Tuesday, a commute on Wednesday, the Tour de Kilkenny yesterday and an hour or so on Sundrive with Harrybelafonte this afternoon added up to 242km at an average of 28.9kph this week.

I tried some aerobars and the pointy hat at Sundrive, but struggled to find any extra speed - the track was damp, which possibly slowed me a bit in the corners, and my legs were certainly still suffering from yesterday's efforts in Kilkenny

YTD total is now 6,231km over 213.5 hours, an average of 29.2kph and 395km ahead of target - only 3,769km to go!

Next week I will hopefully get another 3 races in:

- the final vets midweek race on Tuesday - a 10mTT - given my performance on the same course last week in the 25m TT I would hope to improve my PB if the conditions are OK
- Swords League on Wednesday - the Corduff course, and it will be interesting to see how I manage up the Nags head after the TT on Tuesday
- Vets 80km DMS on Sunday - not sure of the course, but I'm hoping this will be a flat one

Sould get at least one, and hopefully two, commutes in as well, which should increase my headroom on the 10,000km target

Beasty

Back to Batterstown tonight for a 10m TT on the same course as the 25m TT last week, just starting further back towards Blackbull, and turning at the first roundabout

The last time I did a 10m I averaged 286w, and the plan tonight was to try and get it between 290 and 300w. There was a slight incline and headwind going out, but the conditions were excellent overall.

14th off and within 5 mins I caught my minute man. There would be no more overtaking, and for the first time in a TT, I managed to avoid being overtook myself

Last week I averaged 281w for the first 8 km, and this week it was 295w. HR was 164 v 161 last week. I could feel I was breathing much harder than for the first 8km last week - I suspect a combination of pushing harder, and the after effects of the Tour de Kilkenny on Saturday - my legs were still feeling it a bit today. Cadence was slightly up this week, but I still think I could have made better use of the gears - I had switched to an 11-21, and there was probably one bit where I may have benefited from dropping to the small ring.

Coming back the speed picked up and I averaged 279w compared to 276w for the last 8km last week. Again cadence was slightly up. Although I felt I pushed hard at the very end (where there was a slight incline), I did not really push it until about 1km to go. I think this was partly because I had pushed harder overall, but with hindsight I think I could have picked it up a bit earlier.

Time was 25m 6s, a 33s improvement on my previious best, and 22s ahead of my age standard time, and so I am pleased with the overall time. It's consistent with my time in the 25m TT last week, by reference to the age standards. I think I could probably go slightly quicker in benign conditions on the Enfield course, which is a bit flatter than this one, and hopefully I'll get below 25 minutes next year.

Other stats:
Power - average 287w, normalised 291w (both an increase of 1 on previous 10mTT), max 521w (649w)
HR - average 167 (168w), max 175 (177w)
Cadence 92 (91)

Planet X

Thought it would be pretty windy that's why I didn't go.
Seemed to be not too bad in the end?
Well done.
Good time, falling all the time. (excuse pun)

Beasty

Planet X wrote: »

Thought it would be pretty windy that's why I didn't go.
Seemed to be not too bad in the end?
Well done.
Good time, falling all the time. (excuse pun)

Thanks Planet X. It's my last 10mTT for the year, and gives me something to aim for next year. I have this nasty feeling, however, that I am better suited to the 25m:eek:. It's a bit odd, as everyone says how much they dislike TTs, but for some reason I don't mind them (must be all the gadgetry on the bars that distracts me!)

Conditions were certainly better than that 10m at Moy Valley - wind was westerly, but not very strong. I think there were quite a few who beat handicap

Beasty

So tonight's race didn't exactly go to plan. The reason seems quite straightforward - I managed back to back races last month, a 20km vets TT followed by a Swords race at Bog of the Ring, but that course was relatively flat, and I did not race on the back of a hard weekend spin (the Tour de Kilkenny). I also think I put much more effort into last night's TT.

So I guess I now have a better understanding of my limits, and hopefully won't make the same mistake again - I may try consecutive nights again, but I will be a bit more selective, probably a 10mTT followed by either a flat course, or perhaps some track racing, and certainly not on the back of such a hard weekend spin.

Stats for tonight, until I pulled out, were not too bad, given the hilly nature of the course:

Distance 19.7km, time 37m 48s, average speed 31.1kph
Power - average 253w, pedalling 268w, normalised 279w, max 778w
HR - average 161, max 175w
cadence average 80, pedalling 88

As noted in the race report the interesting thing was my power output for 34 minutes was pretty close to my best, which given I was taking it relatively easily for a few minutes after I was dropped was a pleasant surprise.

Anyway, I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the week, just a gentle commute on Friday, in preparation for the vets race on Sunday morning

I'm also off for my bike fit tomorrow - it will be interesting to see how wrong I have been getting my set-up!

Jawgap

Where are you getting the bike fit done?

Beasty

Jawgap wrote: »

Where are you getting the bike fit done?

Bikefitting Ireland, based near Bray.

I'm getting the Cayo and track bike fitted, and will report back on the outcome ...

Beasty

Went for the bike fit last night. As noted above it was www.bikefittingireland.com, based just south of Bray. Aiden Hammond was a top cyclist, and is a qualified coach (as is Michelle). He had previously ridden for Swords, and had been recommended by some of the guys there. I arrived at 7.30 – these fittings normally take about 90 mins, but I had brought both racer and track bike and two bikes would take a little longer. We did spend some time chatting, and it was actually 10.30 or so when I got away.

What took so long? We started off with Michelle going over my medical/injury history, identifying any niggles and measuring me up. She had no idea what she was letting herself in for when I came through the door though!

I explained my back problems, with resultant sciatica. My right leg is marginally shorter than the left, probably as a result of a break as a child. She thought I had a partially fallen arch when she looked at my ankle and foot shape – nothing could be further from the truth – my arches are actually very high, and when I stand on a flat surface only the balls of my feet and heels are actually in contact with the floor. She checked the bike to make sure there was no rubbing from my heel, as my right foot actually points outwards when I walk. These were all issues I was aware of, although perhaps not the extent of these “abnormalities”.

Then the measurements, and one thing we established, which I had absolutely no idea about, is my right shoulder is 4cm lower than my left one. Perhaps I should try and change my username to Quasimodo! All the issues identified relate to the right side of my body (I had also mentioned my right hand goes numb when riding the track at Manchester, when I would have thought I would have more problems with my left hand, which suffers from arthritis, and where I broke the wrist earlier this year). She also said I was the most inflexible cyclist she had come across, as I struggled to bend far enough to reach beneath my knees.

I suspect most of the issues identified result from my back problems, and I do get the odd niggle on the bike, but my body is largely used to it, and adapts accordingly. In fact the exercise I get on the bike tends to improve any back problems I have. We therefore concluded it was not worth trying changing anything unless I had particular problems that caused concern. She did recommend pilates to improve my flexibility.

Then onto Aiden, and sorting the bikes out. He took videos of the “before and after” for me to look at. In terms of the road bike, the saddle was about 8mm too high, and the stem 10mm too long and a couple of cm too low (although it was the right height for the aerobars). The track bike saddle was at exactly the right height – I’d set it the at the same level as the road bike, but failed to adjust for the fact the track cranks are 10mm shorter. The stem was again 10mm too long, but the height of the aerobars I had put on was fine. The saddle needed moving forward slightly, but we then could not get it level. Hence 2 new stems and a new seat post are already on order!

I’ve tried the road-bike today with the bar height adjusted and the saddle lowered half-way to the recommended height (I’ll drop it the rest of the way in a week or so), and I did find it more comfortable. I had made some adjustments when I originally fitted the aerobars for the TTs, and overdone it. My position on the bike was too stretched out. Once I get the new stem and drop the saddle all the way, hopefully I’ll notice more improvement.

Beasty

So having given up the opportunity to see United hammer the best Ireland have to offer on Wednesday to fail miserably in the Swords League race, today I faced a similar dilemma - the Community Shield at Wembley, or vets DMS. Well having seen probably a dozen or more Community/Charity Shield matches over the years I decided United could cope well enough without me today, and I headed off the Kentstown instead.

Although billed as 80km, the actual distance was nearer 68km. The IVCA website has me down as riding in the second Group (B), rather than the one I had ridden with previously (C), and I was hopeful I had been relegated, as this would have put me in the slowest of the three races taking place today. Unfortunately this was not to be the case, and I found myself in the middle race, which included Groups C and D and would be a lot harder.

There were well over 30 riders in our race, including mc2000, Planet X and another coupls of Swoirds guys

With a DMS there's less pressure to take turns, and following Wednesday's performance I basically sat in for most of the first lap. I kept losing time on each corner, and it was a bit stop and start in the middle of the group. In addition a number of riders were very aggressive in getting the position they wanted, forcing me to give way to them on a number of occasions. After about 15km I moved up to third position in the Group (a couple of riders had got away at this stage), and was surprised at how much easier it was there, allowing me to go at a steady pace.

I went back in the group for most of the second and final laps, and was struggling a bit up the inclines on the final lap, until one of the guys gave me a gentle push to get me going again.

We dropped a few riders as we went along, but there must still have been around 25 when we took the final turn. I was still towards the back, and badly placed for the sprint, so I ended up coming in at the back of the field.

After the race I headed off to marshall the Swords Grand Prix, and then came home to catch United's last couple of goals on TV

Stats:
Distance 68.7km
Time - 1h 52m
Average speed 36.7kph
Power - average 214w, pedalling 250w, normalised 256w, max 866w
Work 1,440kj
HR - average 159, max 180
Cadence average 80, pedalling 91

I feel much more capable at the 40-50km distance that Swords do, and need to think more about refuelling in these longer vets races. I feel as if 70km is about my limit for racing, and perhaps need to do some longer spins over the winter - the 108km Tour de Kildare is the longest spin I've done this year, and there have only been another 5 or 6 around the 70km mark (including a couple of races)

Next week I'm off to Manchester, and should get some time on the track, but more importantly I'll get down to Old Trafford to see the start of the Premiership campaign:D

Beasty

An hour spin on Monday, the vets 10mTT on Tuesday, the ill-fated Swords League race on Wednesday, a commute on Friday and today's vets race added up to 209km at 31.5kph this week.

Total distance now stands at 6,440km, at an average speed of 29.2kph, leaving 3,560km to do

Next week I expect to do a commute tomorrow, than I'm off on a "business" trip to Monaco on Tuesday, arriving back a couple of hours before the Swords League race on Wednesday. I'll then be catching the overnight ferry to Manchester for another "business" trip, and will have the new bike in the car, with a view to doing a couple of track sessions.

A nice quiet week ...:rolleyes:

Beasty

One of my objectives for the year is to try and do 40km in the hour on an indoor track. Priorities have changed a little given the commencement of my racing career earlier this year. I have not forgotten about “the hour”, and set out below some of the theory behind it and if my performances to date provide an indication of whether this may be achievable.

Step 1. Get the bike – a Dolan Track Champion – it came with drop bars, and so I purchased some 3T aero bars – my major concern with this is controlling the bike round the tight bends in Manchester – I struggled to keep to the inside of the track on much wider ones at Sundrive. I guess, however, that the steep banking in Manchester will help me counter the centrifugal forces

Step 2. The bike fit – this was done a couple of weeks ago, resulting in some minor adjustments to the saddle position, and a shortening of the stem.

Step 3. Aerodynamic drag – I recently purchased a book entitled “High-Tech Cycling” which explains some of the theory behind aerodynamic drag, and the resultant speed at different power levels. There is a complete chapter on the world hour record, which includes a formula to help evaluate this:

Power = K*(0.00953*M1*V + 0.00775*V^2 + 0.007551*K1*Af*V^3)
Where V = velocity (kph), M1 = weight of cyclist and bike(kg), K = a factor specific to individual velodromes, based on external conditions of the track etc, K1 = an aerodynamic factor taking into account rider position, clothing, helmets etc, and Af = frontal area

The book states the value for K in Manchester is 1 (it was mentioned in the context of Boardman’s records – I suspect the Manchester track became the benchmark for this factor). Hence the two elements that need to be estimated are K1 and Af

Af can be estimated using the following formula:
Af = 0.0293*H^0.725*M^0.425+0.0604
My height is just over 1.87m, and weight around 90kg, and hence
Af = 0.0293*1.87^0.725*90^0.425+0.0604 = 0.373m^2

K1 = Kd*Kpo*Kb*Kc*Kh
Where:
Kd = density ratio (1.0 at sea level, 0.994 in Manchester)
Kpo = rider position – standard position, arms in with aero bars = 1.0, on drops = 1.08 to 1.18, aero bars, elbows wide = 1.07 to 1.11
Kb = bike/components – standard track bike, disk wheels = 1.0, drop bars, wire spokes = 1.07
Kc = clothing – skinsuit = 1.0
Kh = helmet – aero helmet = 1.0, normal road helmet = 1.025

In my case, I will be using Manchester, so Kd = 0.994
Kpo – this is probably the largest variable, but on the basis I will be trying the aero bars, = around 1.11
Kc = 1, Kh= 1

So K1 = 0.994*1.11*1.07*1*1 = 1.181

So, if Power = K*(0.00953M1*V + 0.00775*V^2 + 0.007551*K1*Af*V^3)
In my hour attempt, the power I will need to average 40kph = 1*(0.00953*98*40+0.00775*40^2 + 0.007551*1.181*0.373*40^3) = 262w

Can I achieve this on the aero bars? My hour CP is estimated at 269w, but that was based on cycling using the hoods. I have done 2 x 25m TTs this year when I did use aero bars, the first one I averaged 262w (269w normalised) and the second 266w (277w normalised)

Hence on the face of it I should have the power to do it, but I have not tried this particular bike set-up, which has lower aero bars than the clip-ons on my road bike, so I am not sure if I will be able to maintain this power in this position....

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You're going to need another power meter.